This is a little off the wall, but has anyone purchased a merchant ship or know anyone who has purchased a ship? Not raised money from investors and started a company, but actually one dude buying a boat and building a fleet? There are tons of ships for sale, tons of boat tracking (this is very cool) and good news sites. Sometimes things aren't very transparent and data can be hard to find or must be manually created from different sources.
MSC was started in 1970 with a guy and one boat and now is the largest shipping company on the planet (I think). Net income is estimated to be $36b in 2022. Massive private company.
For the last 5 years or so, the shipping industry has been (I think) abnormally profitable and the prices of used ships have gone up as well. So now it is not the time to jump in, but it is fun to learn. The most important aspect, like real estate, is getting in a good price. Once the cost structure is in place, it's not changing for a long, long time.
Shipping news:
https://www.joc.com/maritime
https://www.tradewindsnews.com/
Ship tracking:
https://www.vesselfinder.com/
https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:96.4/centery:16.4/zoom:11
Ships for sale:
https://www.nautisnp.com/ - lots of ships for sale
There are also vessel brokers.
Other Issues:
- Ships seem to have a fairly steep decline in value as they age. I've read that ships generally are retired at around the 20 year mark unless there is strong demand, like there is now.
- Changing requirements for greener fuels. What happens if you buy a ship and the laws change and it needs a new engine? Ouch.
- Inspections over time and at various ports. I read the entire ship needs to be inspected, all the welds, mechanical, electrical at various periods of its life. I really don't know the regulations for this.
Small sample of pricing data sorted by Cost per TEU:
Here is a sample of a ship for sale from the list above. YC Barrier. From the pricing data, it is not at the bottom for $ / TEU, but it is at the bottom for $ / TEU / Age at $174, indicating it is near the end of its life.
Listing: https://www.nautisnp.com/container-ships/geared/23361
Tracking : https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:300164/mmsi:352003979/imo:9151917/vessel:YC_BARRIER - check out the photos over the years to see the degradation of the ship.
Anyways, I just wanted to share and get any input anyone has info on the small one guy shipping industry.
Thanks!